Pillow and appliance therefor



Nov. 7, 1933. BARCALO 1,934,254

PILLOW AND APPLIANCE THEREFOR Filed March 9, 1955 [WK/71%? dZwf/ M Patented Nov. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES 1,934,254 PILLOW AND APPLIANCE THEREFOR Edward .J. Barcalo, Buffalo, N. Y., assignor to Six-Way Corporation ration of New York Buffalo, N. Y., a corpo- 7 Application March 9, 1933; Serial No. 660,186 9 Claims. (01. 45-57) This invention relates to stuffed or relatively soft, pliable pillows or cushions such as-may be used on beds or couches, and also to means adapting them to support books, magazines and the like in convenient reading positions. More particularly, the invention relates to improve ments in pillows of the sort disclosed in my pending U. S. application for patentserial No. 642,091, filed November 10, 1932, and further to a device or attachment engageable with such a pillow to provide thereon a projecting shelf or ledge adapted to support, on a face of the pillow; a book or other article in suitable position for reading or examining the book or article.

The pillow disclosed in said pending application is a stuffedor more or less yielding, pliable or resilient pillow comprising a case of textile or other suitable flexible sheet material stuffed with a filling of relatively soft and compressible or resilient material such as kapoc, cotton, hair, feathers or the like commonly used as fillings for pillows and cushions. Said pillow may be of triangular or other suitable shape in cross section, having side faces which are disposed at an angle to each other and are of such proportions that the pillow may rest stably on one or another of said side faces as a base, with another of said side faces extending at an angle or inclination to the base. Furthermore, the side faces of said pillow are arranged at such angularity to each other that by placing the pillow on one side face, another of said sidefaces will slope at one angle to the base, whereas if the pillow is placed on a different side face as a base, another face of the pillow will slope at a different angle to the base. Thus, the pillow is adapted to be used in different positions to provide a comfortable, yielding support for the head or other portion of the user whenresting in different postures Said pillow is also provided with means for supporting a book, magazine or other articleon one or another of the side faces of the pillow, means of different constructions for this purpose beingdisclosed in said application. One such means comprises a bar which is removably retained on the pillow so as to form a book or article-supporting ledge or shelf extending lengthwise of and projecting outwardly from a face of the'pillow.

One object of the present invention is toprovide a pillow of the character mentioned with a supporting shelf or attachment of novel and desirable construction adapted to be readily applied to and removed from the pillow. Other objects are to provide an attachment adapted to be readily applied to pillows of the character mentioned to adapt them to support books or other articles; also to provide a book-supporting shelf or attachmentof novel construction adapting it to be removably retained in operative posiiion on such a pillow without making the pillow with engaging or retaining'devices or parts for the attachment which deface or detract from the ornamental appearance of the pillow or which might be objectionable in the use of the pillow 6 when the attachment is removed; alsoto provide an article rest, shelf or attachment which is adapted to. be readily secured in operative position on the pillow and which, when removed from the pillow, can be folded into compact form; and also to provide pillows of the type mentioned and book rests or attachments therefor having the other features of improvement and advantage hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

@Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pillow and bookrest shelf, or attachment therefor, em,- bodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view ofthe shelf or attachment and showing a different position of the .same on a pillow represented by broken lines- 1 Fig. 3 is an end view of the pillow with the shelf or attachment appliedtheretm Fig. 4 is a similar end view but showing a different position of the pillow and of the shelf or attachment.

. Fig. 5 is a plan view ofthe shelf or attachment detached from the pillow and folded.

The-pillow as illustrated in the'drawing is of substantially triangular shape in cross section having opposite ends 10 of substantially triangular shape, and three substantiallyrectangular sidefaces ll, 12 and 13; As shown, each end has 95 three unequal sides or edges and three unequal angles, one angle being'a substantially right or slightly obtuse angle and the other two angles unequal acute angles. The three side faces 11, 12 and 130i the pillow are, .therefore, of different widths but each side face'is preferably of suf iicient widthto provide a base. of substantial pro-- portions 'on which the pillow may rest stably as a base. The pillow may be of other suitable shape.

It is not necessary to further describe herein 105 the construction of the pillow; It may be constructed as fully described in said applicatiomto which reference may be had fora more detailed description. However, it maybe noted that-the pillow is provided at its opposite ends, inwardly from the edges thereof, or at the central portions of the ends, with projections or parts 14 adapted for the engagement of the attaching members of the book shelf or attachment. These parts 1 1, as disclosed in said application, may be buttons attached to and forming the securing means for a stay or tie 15 which extends lengthwise through the pillow and connects the end walls of the case for limiting the extent to which they can bulge outwardly under pressure or weight on the pillow, this stay or tie preferably being adjustable so that it can be lengthened or shortened to make the pillow firmer or softer, as may be desired. The buttons thus connected provide headed projections on the opposite ends of the pillow with which the attaching arms or parts of the book shelf or attachment can be readily engaged for securing the attachment on the pillow.

Said shelf or attachment, as shown, comprises a thin metal bar or strip 16 and attaching arms 17 hinged to the opposite ends of the bar 16 so that the arms can swing outwardly and inwardly away from and toward the bar. The arms are provided at their outer ends with loops or hooks 18, and. when the arms are swung outwardly so as to extend laterally from the bar 16, the hooks or loops 18 are adapted to be hooked over or engaged with the projections or fastenings of the buttons 14. When so engaged with the projections, the shelf or bar 16 will be held against one face of the pillow with the two arms straddling the pillow or extending inwardly from the bar at the ends of the pillow. The bar 16 may be stiffened by forming it with a longitudinal head. or corrugation 19, which formation enables the bar to be made of a thin, light strip of metal and, nevertheless, it will be substantially rigid in use. and remain straight under the weight of a book or article thereon. i

Preferably the hinges connecting'the arms 17 to the bar 16 are arranged with their axes extending at opposite inclinations to thedirection of the length of the bar, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, so that when the arms are folded inwardly, they may lie lengthwise flat against and substantially parallel with the bar 16, and when the arms are swung outwardly and engaged with the projections 15 on the ends of the pillow, they will position the bar 16 so that it will project outwardly substantially perpendicularly from the face of the pillowagainstwhich it bears and is held by the arms. Each of the arms 17 is conveniently made from a stiff wire having one. end bent at an obtuse angle to its main portion and retained in a loop or bentover end 26 of the bar 16 to form the hinge joint between the arm and the bar.

As shown in Fig. 1, the pillow may rest on its side or face 12 of intermediate width, with its widest side or face 11 sloping upwardly, and with the shelf or bar 16 bearing against the face 11 near its lower edge and extending'substantially parallel therewith. If desired, the pillow can be placed on its narrowest side or face 13, as shown in Fig. 4, with the face 11 extending upwardly at a steeper slope and with the bar or shelf 16 bearing against the inclined face 11 near its then lower portion. Thus, by these different positions, the pillow is adapted to support a book at different inclinations, as may be most suitable for reading by the person using the pillow. Similarly, the pillow can be-arranged to support the book or other article on one of its other side faces. For example, as indicated in Fig. 2, the pillow rests on itsv widestside 11, withthe bar or shelf arranged to support a book or article on the face 12 of intermediate width, and this holds the book at still another inclination. Since the pillow is relatively pliable or compressible, it can be more or less deformed or distorted by pressure so as to vary somewhat the inclination of the book in each of its possible different positions on the pillow, thereby adapting the device to'the needs of different readers when held on their laps or otherwise supported.

The shelf or attachment can be readily removed from the pillow by disengaging the hooked ends of its arms from the engaging buttons or parts on the ends of the pillow, and when so removed, the arms can be folded flat against the bar 16, shown in Fig. 5. When the attachment is removed from the pillow, the pillow can be used like the pillow of my U. S. Patent No. 1,890,358, issued Dec. 6,1932, to provide a comfortable support for the head or other part of the body of the user in different desired postures, depending upon the position in which the pillow is placed, and. when so used, there are no parts or projections on the pillow which might detract from its appearance or which, by reason of their location, might make the pillow uncomfortable or objectionable in use as a head or body rest. The attaching buttons or parts 15 at the ends of the pillow are not objectionable in these respects; in fact, they are, in practice, made of pleasing appearance and add 105 an ornamentalfinish to the pillow.

I claim:

1. A relatively pliable pillow having a face. on which the pillow may rest as a base, and a face extending at an angle to said base, and a shelf 110 having means releasably engageable with parts on the opposite end faces of the pillow for removably retaining said shelf in position to support an article on said angularly extending face. l

2. A relatively pliable pillow having a face on 115 which the pillow may rest as a base, and a face above said base, and a shelf having means releasably engageable with parts on the opposite end faces of the pillow for removably retaining said shelf in position to support an article on '120 said last mentioned face. I

3. A relatively pliable pillow having a face on which the pillow may rest as a base, and ,a face above said base, and a shelf having foldable arms engageable with partsvon the pillow for removably 125 retaining said shelf in position to support an article on said last mentioned face, said arms being foldable to positions substantially lengthwise of said'shelfwhen the latteris removed from the pillow.

4. .A relatively pliable pillow having a face on which the pillow may rest as a base, and a, face extending at an angle to said base, and having parts at the central portions of its opposite ends for the engagement of, shelf-attaching arms, and a shelf having arms at its ends releasably engageable with said parts on the ends of the pillow for removably retaining said shelf in position to support anarticle on said angularly extending face.

5. A relatively pliable pillow having side faces on one of which the pillow may rest as a base with another of said faces extending at an angle to said base, and a shelf having arms at its ends arranged to straddle the pillow and releasably engageable with, parts at the opposite ends of, the pillow. for removably retaining said shelf in position extending lengthwise against a. side face ofthepillow. y x

6 A relatively pliable pillow having faces on one of which the pillow may rest as a base with another face extending at an angle to the base, and a bar having arms hinged at its ends and engageable with parts on the pillow for retaining said bar on said pillow in position to form a ledge ends to swing from positions in which the arms extend substantially lengthwise of the bar to positions in which they extend laterally from the bar, the outer ends of said arms being engageable with a pillow for retaining the bar on the pillow in position to form a ledge projecting out from a face of the pillow.

9. A bar having arms hinged at its opposite ends to swing to and frompositions in which the arms extend laterally from the bar, the outer ends of said arms having hooks engageable with parts on a pillow for retaining the bar on the pillow in position to form a ledge projecting out from a face of the pillow.

EDWARD J. BARCALO. 

